


The Montauk Summer - Final Chapter

by Redwit



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Coming of Age, F/M, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Mystery, Parenthood, Revenge, Romance, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 17:52:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10417836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redwit/pseuds/Redwit
Summary: Will, Nico, Jake, Laura and the babies head to Camp Half Blood on the fourth of July hoping to get to the bottom of the mysterious death.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So, here's what happened....
> 
>  
> 
> I, the original author of 'The Montauk Summer' (under the pseud 'Readittodeath'), orphaned my account rashly a couple weeks ago for some complicated and not terribly interesting reasons.
> 
> I immediately felt regret as I didn't quite fully get that my works would suddenly be lost in the Fields of Asphodel that is the Orphan_account, without my name attached. And I was proud of those works! So I have bookmarked them all under this pseud so I can find them easily, and others can, too. 
> 
> And then I felt badly leaving a work unfinished.... The Montauk Summer wasn't really going where I wanted it to go but desire for an ending came to me (after I'd pressed the irrevocable "orphan" button....) and so here it is. This should be chapter eight (and the final chapter) of The Montauk Summer. The original work is bookmarked by Writ.
> 
>  
> 
> Anyway, always big thanks for reading, kudos and comments.
> 
> Enjoy!

The practice arena seemed smaller than it used to be, Nico mused as he ambled toward the middle, awaiting his next challenger. He suspected they’d started him off with some novice fighters to test the waters and the next fight would be for real. He knew how it went. He’d been holding back too. Hopefully the next guy could actually handle a sword and then he could just let himself go. Looking over the crowd Nico picked out Will, with the children, near the back watching with mild amusement. Amidst a group of girls in the middle off to the right, Nico was pretty sure he could see Laura. It was hard to tell from the identical hairstyles

****

Upon arrival at the camp this afternoon, Chiron had introduced the teens to a group of kids their age hanging out on the green. Everyone crowded around, interested in the newcomers. Mortals who could enter camp were extremely rare. And Chiron had put it right out there: Percy Jackson’s sister. One handsome boy didn’t even try to be subtle, whistling as he eyed Laura and winking at her when she looked toward him. Jake instinctively moved closer to her side. A girl with long braids gave a derisive snort, “You wish, Wyatt. Percy Jackson would kick your ass-”

“Anyway!” Laura interrupted, holding up her hand, “I’ve sworn off boys for the summer, except Jake.” She gave her friend a sweet smile. Long braids (Vera, daughter of Demeter) and a bunch of her friends (cute redhead from Hecate, cinnamon-skinned Fatima from Apollo, twin brunettes from Iris) all started talking at once, twittering sympathetically and commiserating – forming an instant sisterhood. 

“What happened to your face?” The brusque comment, directed at Jake, came from a tall kid with honey blond dreadlocks tied back in a bandana, septum piercing glinting. He was worrying a soccer ball absently between his feet. 

Laura spoke up, “The asshole who is the reason I’m off boys for the summer happened.” Murmurs of sympathetic indignation from the newly formed ‘boys-suck’ club.

The tall boy continued to regard Jake. He seemed to be some kind of authority on fights, saying, “Here’s where you say ‘you should see the other guy’….”

Jake bravely held the boy’s gaze, but as his heart started a thumping crescendo, he looked a bit to the side. “I’m afraid I can’t take responsibility for the asshole’s ultimate sorry state,” he admitted. 

“He got me away from the jerk, and he didn’t fall down,” Laura defended proudly. Jake blushed. A few of the kids nodded, acknowledging that was something. Pierced dready boy gave him an appraising up-and-down. 

“You’re not off boys, are you?” he said steadily. He chipped the soccer ball into the air towards Jake, who expertly (Thank you, Belfast and Weegie cousins!) chest trapped the ball to the ground and sent it back in a swift arc. Someone clapped, and Jake could hear an appreciative, “Nice!”

“No, I am not,” Jake was surprised the retort came out so cool and confident given his wobbly stomach and suddenly sweaty palms. He was reading this correctly, right? Flirting, not challenging?

The tall boy caught the ball and grinned, revealing a single dimple. 

“You’re on my team,” he said to Jake tossing the ball back at him and running closer. Jake was pretty sure he could totally handle being so quickly claimed by this boy, probably. Still, he glanced toward his friend, seeking her approval. Laura gave him an encouraging thumbs up. 

“Boys, let’s play!” the boy called out to the group and several guys and a couple girls rallied to form teams. To Jake the boy said, “You want to be on my team, right?” 

The boy’s face was only inches away, his eyes brown with green flecks, a scar on his chin like Indiana Jones. He fingered a fold of Jake’s white blouse where it was tucked into his shorts. 

“Silk?” the boy asked, meeting Jake’s eyes and then resting his gaze on Jake’s mouth, “and cherry lip gloss?” Jake nodded. The boy nodded back, approvingly. 

“I’m Alex.” 

Jake was still nodding. He needed a second. Jake dropped the ball and dribbled it away, giving himself some space. But a few feet away he glanced back and Alex caught up to him, and they both were grinning stupidly as the game started for real.

Laura raised her eyebrows, “That was fast! Son of Aphrodite?” she guessed.

Vera chuckled, “You’d think! But, no. Alex is a son of Ares. But, then, Ares did manage to woo Aphrodite, so I guess ruthless battle skills and romance and are not mutually exclusive.” The girls laughed. Laura joined in, “Well, Jake does have a thing for ruthless warriors…”

Watching the soccer game Laura asked, “We don’t have to play, right?”

“No way,” Vera sounded adamant. She regarded Laura closely and then turned to the other girls. “I’m thinking a gesture of solidarity for Percy Jackson’s baby sister. Hey, girls? In honour of our ‘we don’t need boys’ summer, we’re totally all adopting that gorgeous Colleen Moore bob you’ve got going on, Laura.” The girls were in. They all trooped off, arm in arm, to find an Aphrodite kid with barber scissors, Fatima starting a chorus of “Bread and Roses”...

In the meantime, most of the Apollo cabin had trooped around Will and Nico as soon as they had arrived, a couple girls gushing over Nora and begging to hold her. “She’s cranky,” Nico warned as he unstrapped her from the baby carrier. “She’s working on her second tooth.”

“No worries, she’s our kith and kin! Oh, what a beauty!” Nora seemed happy to be bounced around in the arms of the attentive teenagers. 

Led by Piotr, the current head of Apollo cabin, the kids were excited to show Will cabin 7. Nico and Will grinned at each other over their heads. The bustle and energy and dreamy sunshine were so familiar; they hadn’t been to the camp for years, but it was like they had never left. The summer air seemed to shimmer magically as Nico followed the Apollo kids up the steps of the plain wooden cabin with the yellow flowers. If he hadn’t been holding Lee’s hand, he could almost swear he was 14 again, the nervous excitement of being in his boyfriend’s cabin washing over him. 

The cabin looked the same. Neat as a pin, utilitarian, music posters, bows hanging from hooks, quivers propped underneath. Will had stopped by one of the beds. “My old bunk,” he said, smiling back at Nico.

Piotr gave a shy smile, “Yeah, the graffiti’s still there….” He pointed. It was true:

WILL SOLACE FUCKING LOVES NICO DI ANGELO

was still scrawled on the headboard.

Over the years at some point someone had drawn an arrow as if it should read: 

WILL SOLACE LOVES FUCKING NICO DI ANGELO. 

It didn’t matter. Both were true, then and now. Will felt Nico’s hand at the small of his back. “I remember that,” he said, voice thick with nostalgia.

Will squatted down and pointed to another scrawl, “Look at this, Lee. Know what this says? It says “Lee”.” Little Lee touched the words with his finger. “Me?” he asked in wonder. “No, darling. I had a brother Lee. He wrote his name here. He was a very special brother to me when I came to this camp. And so when Papa and I had a very special boy, we named him Lee.” He ruffled Lee’s curls. Lee was more interested in scrambling onto the bunk and jumping, but Nico kissed Will’s cheek when he stood up.

A conch horn sounded, making everyone look up and stirring up excited conversation. “The games are about to begin!” someone announced. There was a rush to exit the cabin. Piotr followed Nico and Will and Lee. “The first competition is sword fighting, Nico. Would you be game for a demo?”

****

And so, here he was….

 

He heard the Ares head counselor call out a name, and raised his eyebrows a little watching a tall, dreadlocked kid stand from where he had been sitting very close to Jake in the front row. He watched Jake’s eyes follow the boy on stage, Jake’s nervous expression as the boy chose a sword and got into position to face Nico. 

“Hmm,” Nico considered to himself, allowing an amused smile, “an age-appropriate warrior boy for Jake, maybe….” He was considering whether he should go easy on this kid, for Jake’s sake, when the kid made his first move and Nico knew he was facing an equal – he wouldn’t have to hold back to make this kid look good. Nico let himself enjoy the challenge. For several minutes they parried, the crowed gasping and clapping. It was a good show! But, then the Ares kid made an error and Nico was able to advance, managing a dramatic disarmament, the Ares kid’s sword flying into the air. The crowd cheered and then gasped as the Ares kid scrambled, reaching, and caught his sword by the hilt. The fight wasn’t over! But, after the heroic save, comedy ensued. The kid, off-balance, stumbled into Nico causing them both to fall gracelessly. It was funny, but clumsy with real swords is never a good idea and as they disentangled themselves, the Ares kid’s blade was bloody and so was Nico’s right forearm. The laughing crowd gasped again, Jake bolting upright crying, “Alex!” in indignation and “Nico!” with alarm. Alex stood staring, aghast, “I’m so sorry…” he stuttered.

Piotr ceased laughing along with the rest as he rushed over, reaching into his pocket for his baggie of ambrosia, pulling it out and then staring at it in his hand, frozen. Will, asking one of his siblings to take Lee and Nora to Laura, was jogging over. How often had he jogged over to wounded Nico in the practice arena? Déjà vu! Nico’s hand was clamped over the wound, blood seeping between his fingers. Anna, a younger Apollo kid got there first and took over the pressure saying, “Piotr, what the Hades? He needs that ambrosia now!” She hummed a clear low pitch and Nico felt his heart rate slow, and black fog building behind his eyes as his blood pressure began to plummet, he could hear nothing but white noise. Just before he blacked out, he felt Will’s fingers pushing a square of ambrosia into his mouth, and the world swirled back into focused colour and sound. Anna was applying a pressure bandage to his arm, and calling for some burly Hephestus boys to help Nico get to the infirmary. Nico looked around for Will, found him with his arm around Piotr, speaking close to his face. Piotr still clutched the little plastic bag as he began to crumple to his knees. Will took to his knees as well, holding the boy’s head to his chest as Piotr shook with sobs. As the Hephestus boys ran over, Will called over, “We’ll meet you there.” But the ambrosia coursing through his system was working well, and Nico knew the cut looked worse than it was. He shrugged off the Hephestus boys, and Alex, who kept apologizing. Jake was hovering nearby too, hesitating only a moment (Nico did look better now) before touching Alex’s arm sympathetically. They turned to each other, speaking quietly.

“I’m fine. I’m fine!” Nico insisted, waving away Anna’s concern, eyes only on Will and Piotr. When he got close to them, Piotr was still overcome with emotion against Will’s chest and Will silently handed Nico the small plastic bag. He could immediately deduce what was happening, the whole story falling into place. He heard Anna’s concerned voice and Will’s. Nico tucked the bag into his pocket and they all moved toward the infirmary. Chiron ’s voice over the loud speaker encouraged the campers to move on to the next activity, assuring them everything was ok. Just another day at Camp Half Blood – you get hurt, you get healed, time for the next activity, no sweat.

An hour later, Chiron met Will and Nico as they left the infirmary. Piotr was sleeping peacefully, thanks to the combined efforts of Anna and Will. He had known as soon as he had pulled out the bag that should have contained his usual stash of ambrosia squares that something very wrong had happened. Recognising the bag as belonging to his secret mortal girlfriend, containing a single hash brownie leftover from the few she had brought for them to have during their date, Piotr’s first thought was astute and horrifying. Will confirmed it in the gentlest way he could. The girl had indeed mistaken the ambrosia square left, accidentally, in her possession for the leftover treat. And she had died. Piotr knew what that death would be like. He had screamed in grief and self-blame until his voice was gone. Sleep was the kindest thing for him right now. Anna had been fully updated and would stay by his side for when he awakened. Chiron listened with a grave expression, thanking Will and Nico for getting to the bottom of it, relieved that the death proved to be accidental, grieved for the mortal family who could never know the true circumstances.

“You didn’t need a big city hot shot homicide detective after all,” Nico acknowledged ruefully. “Though I guess me being here and getting hacked up served it’s purpose…” He examined the neat row of sutures close to his wrist. “Always my arms….” He shook his head. He and Will shared a heavy glance. Now could they just get back to family vacation? A thought dawning, Nico said, “Where are the babies?”

Chiron answered, “I had a couple wood nymphs put them down for naptime in your cabin, Nico. They’re sleeping soundly now in their care. Laura and Jake have found some friends. Everyone’s okay if you just need some time to yourselves before dinner.”

Will and Nico nodded gratefully, and Chiron turned to make his way back to his office at the front of the big house. Alone, Will gathered Nico into his arms holding him in a close embrace. Nico squeezed him back with his good arm wrapped around Will’s back. “A walk?” Will suggested. Nico nodded. 

In the late afternoon sun, they walked hand in hand. Past the big house, past western strawberry field and the big old oak tree where they had shared their first real kiss, towards the southern woods and a deserted stretch of rail fence. They talked about Piotr and his girlfriend, and Jake and Laura and this Alex boy, and Nora’s second tooth, and where to place Lee for kindergarten in the Fall, and whether Annabeth had had the baby yet, and what might be for dinner, and a hundred little things one talks about when walking hand in hand in the sunshine with the love of your life whom you’ve known for years and years. They perched themselves on the rail fence, knee to knee, the sun beating down and the air shimmering. The angle of the sun made Will’s blue eyes gleam, and Nico, remembering the last time they had sat on this fence holding hands, complete with arm wounds and gleaming blue eyes, reached a hand to his love’s neck and poured all his affection into the second sweetest kiss that stretch of the woods had ever seen.

Pulling away, they were both smiling and staring into the woods with great contentment. Nico squinted, “Hey, that apple tree is still there! Hungry?” Will shrugged, but he followed Nico off the fence and to the edge of the woods where the old fruit tree stood, ripe apples shining down from the high branches. The ground around the tree was still muddy from the big storm, but standing on one of the exposed roots and reaching to his full extent with his sword, Nico was confident he could reach the tempting fruit. “I’ll cut, you catch,” he told Will. “Don’t let them hit that mud!”

“Isn’t it weird to have apples in July?” Will queried aloud as Nico moved to make a calculated swipe. Something, a warning, tugged at the base of Will’s brain, but even as he was saying, “Wait!” he instinctively reached out to catch the three apples before they hit the ground. 

Tree, light, sound – gone! In the sudden and absolute black stillness Will became aware of his own breath, the sensation of the apples cradled in the crook of one arm, Nico’s leg pressed against his, his back against wet stone, Nico’s breathing. Nico was aware of nothing except the feeling of being trapped in the bronze jar – dark, quiet, close. Completely disoriented, Nico was frozen in place. He vaguely noted his hand was tightly holding Will’s , and was vaguely relieved that this confirmed he was not, in fact, trapped in a bronze jar. But the panic started to well up anyway. Ahead a glimmer of light was revealed and every instinct told Nico to run toward it.

They sprinted toward the light, holding hands, legs moving in three-legged concerted strides. The light was glinting through a crevice in the rock wall – a way out! Nico squeezed through first, every cell screaming to be free of the close space. He reached back to pull Will through, both falling to the ground, golden apples tumbling, taking gulps of air: ….cold ….wintery ….air. 

Slowly they turned to face each other. 

Abruptly Will sat up, leaning over Nico uncomprehendingly taking in the curls spilling over his forehead, his smooth chin, the aviator jacket he hadn’t seen since….. 

Nico raised a shaking hand to touch the Okemo stitching on Will’s ski jacket, searching those wide blue eyes, Nora’s eyes, for an answer. 

“Our babies...” Nico whispered, “They’re asleep, safe….” He knew in his heart it was true, somewhere, sometime. The panic receded. Facts and fantasies, memories, dreams, were slipping in and out of focus, a train speeding through clouds of fog. 

Will licked his lips, gave the faintest nod. “Marry me,” he said, “…someday.” Nico nodded vigorously and grabbed for Will to pull him into a kiss filled with desperate longing to hold fast the swiftly fading memories of their future. “Lee and Nora,” Will murmured against Nico’s mouth, “Lee and Nora. We won’t forget.” Nico choked back a sob. He felt like he was already starting to forget. 

Loud cries for help stirred them to get up (ankles no longer bound) and run to where Chiron and the campers were gathered around a severely wounded dark-skinned boy just beyond the edge of the woods.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, so they caught the three golden apples and escaped from the labyrinth - that Three Legged Death Race of the Trials of Apollo. 
> 
> I thought of this ending when I first wanted to write something about Nico and Will having babies. But I discarded it as too sad. But then, it seemed right to bring this fic back to age 15, back to CHB, for my last fic. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the twist!


End file.
